TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the United States and his regional allies have started a psychological and economic warfare against Iran and it is necessary to keep unity to counter it.

“There is a kind of economic and psychological warfare, and we cannot say that the situation is normal. In this situation, we should help each other through unity,” he told a cabinet session.

Rouhani said in this situation the people should not face difficulty in buying basic commodities and that prices of commodities should be fair.

President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. unilaterally from the 2015 nuclear deal in May and ordered sanctions against Iran. The first round of sanctions went into force on August 6 and the second round, which targets Iran’s oil exports and banks, were snapped back on November 4.

This happened despite the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is authorized to oversee Iran’s compliance to the nuclear deal, in its regular reports has confirmed that Iran is fully abiding by the terms of the agreement.

Trump ditched the nuclear despite by warnings by the international community, including its Western allies.

Speaking to a select Jewish audience on December 7 at the White House reception for Hanukkah, Trump boasted for leaving what he called “the horrible Iran nuclear" deal. 

"It was a horrible, horrible deal. Should have never been made and imposed the toughest-ever sanction. We sanctioned Iran like I guess few have ever been sanctioned before." 

NA/PA